Interiors By Cheryll: Proportion as important as colour, texture, pattern

Perfecting the art of scale is one of most important skills to master when decorating.

Brilliant colour schemes, fabulous marriages of pattern and texture and outstanding pieces are all undermined if you don’t achieve perfect balance, proportion and scale.

The most interesting spaces include pieces that vary in size and scale. This helps to keep the eye entertained and moving throughout the space.

It begin with inspiration. This could be anything from a great piece of furniture, a gorgeous area carpet, an original work of art, a scrap of fabric or the view out a feature window.

As you build the design plan and layer all of the decorating elements, you need to ensure proper balance.

When I’m designing a room, I compose both a floor plan and an elevation drawing to ensure my proportions are correct.

Use scale cutouts of furniture on the same-scale floor plan to ensure that each piece of furniture relates to the next, and that the room and its belongings are appropriately scaled.

Not only do I do this for furniture and area rugs, but I also do it for light fixtures that hang above tabletops.

A general guideline is to employ the rule of thirds. A coffee table should be two-thirds of the width of the sofa, as should a painting that hangs above a buffet or behind the sofa, and an end table should be at least a third of the width of the seat next to it.

If a piece feels too large or too small for the space, it probably is.

There are many tricks to help correct ill-proportioned pieces. For example, if a piece of art is too small for the room, one option is to add a mat and new frame to increase the overall size. Or hang a group of pieces that, collectively, are better scaled for the space.

However, there are times, such as this kitchen restyling project, where the best option is to replace and use those pieces in another room where they fit better.

The too-small kitchen table in this kitchen nook needed to go. It became a card and games table in the basement family room.

Don’t be afraid to move things around to give new life to your old pieces and rooms.

The light above the table also needed to be replaced with something larger to fill the space.

Replaced with a round table that allows for more and bigger chairs, the room became inviting instead of austere.

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